Kids arrested for doing "UFC"

Below is an article from braidwoodjournal.com about some kids who were arrested for practicing mma in their homes... what are your thoughts on this topic, was it the right thing to do because the kids really could get hurt... or are the cops putting their nose where it doesn't belong?

Dangerous disobedience
Police chief says backyard fights could have serious consequences
Marney Simon
Staff writer
The arrest of two Reed-Custer High School students and a parent has some local parents up in arms, accusing police of turning backyard horseplay into a criminal activity. But police say that so-called horseplay is really an illegal activity that's potentially deadly.
The incident started with a call to a Braidwood home on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Braidwood police officers were responding to a report that there was a fight happening at the residence, but upon arrival, the participants of the fight had scattered.
The following day, video of the alleged fight was obtained by the Braidwood police. The investigation that followed eventually led to the arrests. It was those arrests that prompted some parents to speak out.
"To my knowledge, our police department responded to a call at a home on Sept. 16 where a group of people were supposedly doing Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), also known as mixed martial arts," resident Linda Santerelli told the Braidwood City Council on Sept. 20. "My biggest concern over this incident is why the two boys were arrested, and when and where the arrest took place."
Santerelli and another parent, Tonya Boyer, were upset that the teens were arrested at school. The pair added that they believed the fight to just be backyard horseplay, and questioned police involvement.
Acting Police Chief Brandon Myers, however, says the characterization of the fight as "horseplay" is wrong.
"It is unfortunate that some adults are viewing this as simple horseplay, the children can be seriously injured or could be potentially be killed by performing these stunts," Myers said.
Myers and Santerelli were both referring to UFC-style mixed martial arts. Mixed martial arts is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques, including grappling, punching and kicking, both standing up and on the ground. Myers, who is a 5th degree black belt in the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do, a 4th degree black belt in the Okinawan art of Ken-KyushoJutsu Ryu karate, and a certified Self Defense instructor in Brazilian JiuJitsu, said the sport is nothing to mess around with, as it can cause serious injury and even death. Myers added that the investigation suggested that the fight was not an isolated incident, and several high schoolers have been participating in these UFC-style backyard matches since early summer.
"Very few [of the teenage participants] have any training whatsoever and do not know the limitations of their actions," Myers explained. "Even professional fighters are seriously injured through full contact fighting after training for years. These kids are performing chokes using the carotid artery, and chokes using the trachea which both can be vitally injured with just a small amount of pressure. They are using joint manipulations that can cause breaks with the wrong type of manipulation or a small amount of resistance. The kids are kicking and punching each other with full force and this too can cause serious injury or death even accidentally. I am sure that no one would appreciate this type of life changing experience. It is not simple horseplay."
In fact, the decision to try out such fighting techniques has already had deadly consequences in other parts of the country. In 2001, a 14-year old Florida boy was sentenced to life in prison for killing a 6-year-old girl while performing the moves associated with mixed martial arts. According to the Associated Press, Lionel Tate, who said he idolized various wrestlers, body slammed, kicked and knee dropped Tiffany Eunick, resulting in her death. Tiffany's injuries included a fractured skull, a lacerated liver, fractured ribs and a swollen brain. Tate's conviction was later overturned on the basis that he had not had a mental health evaluation during trial. Rather than face trial again, he pled to second degree murder and was sentenced to one year of house arrest and 10 years of probation. Tate, now 22, is currently in prison in Florida for violating that probation.
Myers said it's this extreme consequence that parents need to think about before they let their children fight without proper training.
"If these children want to participate in this activity then they can join a wrestling club, boxing school or a karate school, but full contact fighting has never been a legal activity on the streets or in the backyards in Braidwood, even if it is concentual," Myers said. "It is reckless and extremely dangerous. I have been training and teaching martial arts for nearly 30 years and I would not participate in this reckless behavior."
Still, parents are unsure what this means for their kids.
"I also wanted to get a clear understanding of the laws the arrests were made under," Santerelli said. "Does this mean if a group of people are playing around, and/or practicing marital arts of any form - wrestling, boxing, et cetera - or just horsing around, even with your own child in public, could you be arrested in someone calls the police department?"
Santerelli went on to ask if a pick-up basketball or football game in the yard could result in criminal prosecution. Santerelli even printed flyers indicating that karate, wrestling or boxing could land someone on jail.
Myers said the comparison of the fight he saw on video to kids just horsing around is inaccurate.
"I really do not know how to respond to the question of whether children will be arrested for having a pick up basketball game in their driveway or other activities such as that," Myers said. "The question is ridiculous and does not even relate to kids fighting full contact using specific techniques with a purpose of knocking the other person unconscious or with a purpose of killing the other person."
The three people arrested were charged with local ordinance violations for reckless conduct and disturbing the peace. Myers said the police won't hesitate to intervene again if more fights are brought to their attention.
"This is a serious matter and I will make sure that there is an arrest every time we learn of a fight," Myers said. "In the future people watching and encouraging this illegal activity will be arrested and charged as well."
Myers is also a former member of the board of directors and technical advisor to the International Christian Martial Arts Association. He teaches martial arts seminars throughout the country, and has even penned a book on martial arts.

im walkin around 300 for my fight then dropping to 265 after that my frame weighs more than u fight at...i thought u were at least half as big as ur mouth if u want maybe me and one of my training partners mite be able to make a road trip up to ur gym for a weekend, not for sum kinda dumb shi* but so maybe we can see each others point of veiw bout independents...oh yeah and sorry bout the cheap shot bout ur mama wuz a lil out of line jus got caught up in the shi* talkin, it happens

"using specific techniques with a purpose of knocking the other person unconscious or with a purpose of killing the other person."

Wow!!!!! with a purpose of killing the other person?? if this is the case shouldn't these kids be prosecuted for attempted murder??? something is wrong with this story because if it was really a cut and dry situation where kids were acting recklessly then why in the world would someone make a quote such as this???
I say purefight gets to this place and gets some exposure because not only in regards to mma as a sport but there has been some extreme violations of civil rights

5 years ago

i love how he used an incident where a kid was doing wwe moves and dropping someone on their head as mixed martial arts.. even if this was some underground fight club i dont see where this is illegal. maybe if there was any proof of negligence on the kids behalf. our society has to accept that mma is part of our sports culture now. kids are def not professional football players however that gets rough as well. I wonder what the stats are for injuries caused by backyard football? I wonder if anyone has ever been arrested for it either? Either way i think from reading this article there was a very VERY poor and inexcusable response by the police department.

welterweight huh.....lol....it would take a year for me to cut that much weight

Bruger King 5 years ago

As much as it sucks for these kids, I think the law prevailed in this case. Backyard MMA could lead to some serious injuries. The owner's of the house could be in deep doo doo if someone actually got hurt. These kids should be in the gym practing karate, wrestling or other combat sports with supervisors. With that being said, I think it was kind of dirty to go to school to arrest these kids while at school. I am sure they knew where they lived and could have just as easily nabbed them at their house.

Not sure now I thought at first that a more seasoned fighter such as Couture becuase he is seasoned and fought just about every style out there. But anderson is fast accurate very well rounded I dont see an aggressive fighter doing it. It will take some one calm and collected man he may reign for awhile.

snatch nasty quit talking lets do this what weight class r u in ill cut weight jus to step in the cage with with a fighter of ur calibur cuz if u can fight half as good as u can talk u might acuttaly b a challange so there it is an open invitation to put all that training to the test no more talking just let me know i have a fight in december but anytime after that im ready....as for now i have to get back to my "instuctional dvds" and rolling with me and ur mamas pillows

Outcast 5 years ago

Snatch whats with the quotes bud I just asked him what he thought. he said hes an independant im curious what he thinks about the topic I know what he thinks about you. I mean there is a topic here right or are you just wanting to down all the independants. Dont know about baby kong but Ive accomplished putting wrestlers on there back and putting my knee on there chest and punching them in the face. This is MMA man not wrestling your absolutly right if I was in a wrestling tournament I would loose most wrestlers are awesome there control on the ground is great if I was going up against a grappler well that one Bud is definatly 50/50 as im totally fine with that style, jui-jitsu totaly fine there its also 50/50 you notice I keep saying 50/50 right because ive been doing this long enough to know that at anytime anyone can get caught no matter how great they think they are. Snatch I can tell you love the sport man you have made that very clear I also must say even though its apparent you cant stand me you havent bluntly insulted my family which on that note I will say thanks but as for the topic at hand with the kids and all lets put this to rest and agree to disagree. As for looking down on the independants just remember that this independant doesnt train for ego or for glory I also train because I love the sport so in that sense we are alike. And trust me when I say I am more than capable to train and study this sport without being in a gym. You train behind 4 walls and so do I. Again we have that in common you are a mma fighter right! As for me and babykong we are also mma practioners. So we have that in common. We are all apparently hot heads with tempers. so again we have that in common. You feelings on the subject are 100% right on for you. As mine are for me. As for the POS backyard brawler i would love to talk to him but he seems to just like to talk. you have a great day I would really like to talk about other topics more over and talk about the Machida topic thats a great topic also.

Your an idiot babykong, how bout you go back to your instuctional DVD's and rolling with a pillow and I'll go back to being a real fighter Ok? You ever win a grappling touranment, you a state chapmpion wrestler? what have you accomplished, you ever win a real MMA fight in the ring. Don't go preaching your independent garbage at me until you get on the level of Backyard and I.

robertp 5 years ago

hey theres a big fight in sedalia, MO on November 6th. you should road trip and cover it. Love the work you do, and enjoy the website.

Outcast 5 years ago

Hey Baby Kong how do you feel about the kids being arrested in THEIR backyard! Its a pretty good topic dont you think.